National health coverage is seeing a notable decline as new data reveals a significant drop in Medicaid and Children’s Health Insurance Program enrollments across the United States. According to the most recent tracking from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, there were 73.5 million people enrolled in these combined programs as of May 2026. While this figure remains slightly above pre-pandemic levels seen in early 2020, it marks a sharp downturn over the last year, with roughly 5 million people, or about six percent of the total population, losing their coverage between May 2025 and May 2026.
The downward trend is nearly universal across the country, impacting 49 states and the District of Columbia. The severity of the cuts varies by region, ranging from a marginal increase in Iowa to a steep twenty percent plunge in Indiana. Perhaps most concerning is the impact on youth healthcare, as child enrollment has decreased in almost every single jurisdiction tracked. While some adults managed to maintain coverage in a handful of states like Missouri and North Carolina, the vast majority of adult participants saw similar declines.
This shift comes amid an evolving legal landscape that experts suggest will continue to shrink the pool of eligible recipients. The 2025 reconciliation law introduced stringent new work and reporting requirements for adults in expansion groups and certain waiver programs. Although these mandates are slated to take full effect in January 2027, officials expect them to drive down enrollment numbers steadily over the next decade compared to previous standards.
Interestingly, while general Medicaid numbers are falling, there has been a slight divergence within the Children’s Health Insurance Program specifically. Despite the overall loss of covered children when combining both programs, CHIP enrollment actually rose in twenty-one different states during this period. Nevertheless, analysts caution that these trackers focus primarily on full benefit enrollees and do not account for those receiving limited services, meaning the actual scale of coverage loss could be even broader than currently reported.
